The National Association of Urban Hospitals has written to Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) endorsing their new legislation, the Hospital Readmissions Program Accuracy and Accountability Act. The bill calls for adding risk adjustment to Medicare’s hospital readmissions reduction program – a change NAUH has long advocated.
NAUH has long maintained that the program requires risk adjustment because so many of the people who turn to private safety-net hospitals for care have endured years of socio-economic challenges that, over time, lead to medical problems that are more difficult to treat. A number of recent studies have confirmed this belief.
See NAUH’s endorsement letter here.